I just backed a Kickstarter for a new sword &planet/heroic fantasy semi-pro publication called Cirsova. The issue is already put together and according to the Kickstarter page, the authors and artist have been paid.
I really like the idea of a publication that has an emphasis on sword and planet. I’ve had an itch to read more S&P for about a month. As soon as I clear a couple of titles I’ve committed to review, I’m going to be reading a lot more of it. I’m hoping this one takes off.
David G. Hartwell passed away from some type of brain hemmorhage about an hour ago as I write this. I was heading to bed and decided to check my Twitter feed one last time tonight. Hartwell was one of the major editors in the fields of science fiction and fantasy for the last few decades.
His annual anthologies Year’s Best SF (1996-2013) and Year’s Best Fantasy (2001-2008) were among the most eagerly anticipated books of the year for me. He also edited a number of standalone anthologies.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Hartwell several times over the years, although I hadn’t seen him in recent years. He was always open and approachable. He had an enthusiasm for the literature of the fantastic that was always refreshing to be around, and his knowledge of the field was considerable.
Adventures Fantastic would like to express our deepest condolences to his family and friends.
January 13, 1893 saw the birth of Clark Ashton Smith. Along with his friends and correspondents Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft, Smith was regarded as one of the Big Three at Weird Tales during was is generally regarded as the magazine’s golden age.
Given his stature in the field, it’s a little surprising how brief his career as a writer of fiction was. Most of his fiction was written between 1929 and 1934. Smith’s first literary love was poetry. He also worked as an artist. Clark Ashton Smith was never able to completely support himself through his artistic endeavors, and he frequently did manual labor around his hometown of Auburn, California.
Smith’s fiction is not for the week of vocabulary. He wrote several story cycles that take place in exotic imaginary lands in prehistory or on other planets. Smith’s Collected Fantasies is back in print in paperback and electronic editions. (Click the individual titles for links to electronic versions.)
Onward, Drake!
Mark L. van Name, ed.
Baen Books
Hardcover, $25
ebook $9.99
There’s been a long tradition in the field of honoring outstanding authors with an anthology. Sometimes the anthology comes after they’ve passed on, but usually the anthology is published while the authors are still with us. Such is the case with David Drake. He’s a giant whose works have changed the genre, and for the better I might add. It’s good to see this tribute to him, especially as he’s still with us to appreciate it.
Onward, Drake! contains both original fiction as well as essays in honor of Drake. There’s a pretty wide range of stuff here. Although David Drake built his reputation with his military science fiction, particularly the Hammer’s Slammers series, he’s written in a wide variety of subgenres: epic fantasy, dark fantasy and horror, space opera, and humor. As if that weren’t enough, he’s also been an editor and historian of the field with a great appreciation of the pulp writers. I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve read by him
The highlights of the anthology are two new stories by Drake himself. Continue reading
“Philtered Power”
Malcolm Jameson
First published in Unknown, March 1940
Available free in Amazing Future Tales From the Past, Vol. 5
As a follow up from yesterday’s post about the Retro-Hugos, here’s a look at one of the stories that’s eligible. It’s a fun fantasy romp about the misuse of a potion, one that’s misused with the best of intentions. There will be spoilers, just in case you care.
Afterwards I’ll have a few things to say about Malcom Jameson, whose career was tragically cut short by cancer. Continue reading
No, I’m not going to talk about the Hugo Awards and all the drama associated with them in recent years. I want to address a particular category that was introduced in the 1990s and has been on the ballot sporadically since then.
A bit of background first. The Hugo Awards were named Hugo Gernsback, who was the editor of the first pulp devoted solely to science fiction, Amazing Stories. The Hugos were first presented at the 1953 Worldcon. There were none awarded in 1954, but they have been awarded annually every year since 1955.
In the mid-1990s, the Retroactive Hugos, commonly referred to as the Retro-Hugos were added to the list of categories which may be considered for an award. They can be given 50, 75, or 100 years after a Worldcon in which no Hugos were awarded. These years are 1939-1941, 1946-1952, and 1954. It is up the Worldcon of any given year as to whether a Retro-Hugo will be awarded. They have been given in 1996 (1946), 2001 (1951), 2004 (1954), and 2014 (1939). They will be given this year for 1941, meaning that stories published in 1940 are eligible.
I see both positive and negative aspects of this. Continue reading
“Shannach – the Last”
Originally published in Planet Stories, Nov. 1952
Another longer work, this time set on Mercury. Brackett’s Mercury is a twilight world of valleys surrounded by mountains that pierce the shallow atmosphere. From what I understand, life only exits in valley’s along a twilight zone along the terminator. Since this story refers to the Sun rising and setting, either I’m missing something or there’s a slight wobble in the planet’s orbit which creates the day and night effect.
None of which stopped me from enjoying this adventure tale. Trevor is a prospector whose ship has crashed. There’s no life in the valley where he crashes, and he can’t get over the mountains because he doesn’t have a pressure suit. (Don’t ask me why.)
He’s trying to find a way to another valley through a system of caves when he is swept away by an underground river. He ends up in a large valley with a city in the distance. And that’s when his troubles really start. Continue reading
Today is Tolkien’s birthday. I’m not going to write a long post. There are too many writers who have written better posts honoring him than I could ever write. I just didn’t want the day to pass without acknowledging the man. No matter what you think of his work and his influence on fantasy, he casts a long shadow over the field that still has influence today.
Charles Beaumont was born this day in 1929. He passed away in 1967. Beaumont was a protege of Ray Bradbury and a central figure in what’s come to be called the California School. Other members were Richard Matheson, William F. Nolan, Chad Oliver, and the late George Clayton Johnson. Johnson’s story “Your Three Minutes Are Up” is a tribute to his friend.
Beaumont is best remembered today for penning a number of scripts for Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone. He also wrote the novel The Intruder which was filmed by Roger Corman and starred William Shatner.
Beaumont’s strengths lay in short stories. I came across a slim volume when I was a sophomore in high school; I bought it on the strength of Ray Bradbury’s introduction and read it during a move across the state. Not all of the stories worked for me. Some of them were aimed for a more mature reader. I don’t mean “mature” in terms of sexual content (although that was part of it) but that the themes weren’t something a young teen could relate to.
On the other hand, the stories that did resonate with me blew me away. I was hooked and spent years haunting used book stores trying to find all of his collections. In addition to being the epitome of a professional working writer, Beaumont was an avid race fan. He and Nolan often raced.
Beaumont’s death is usually attributed to some type of early-onset Alzheimer’s. He began to age swifty at the age of 34. His loss was deeply felt.
Centipede Press recently published The Intruder, crime thriller Run From the Hunter (written collaboratively with John Tomerlin), and a massive collection of short fiction, Mass for Mixed Voices (which sold out almost immediately, and no, I won’t loan you my copy.) This past year penguin published Perchance to Dream: Selected Stories. Also available is the collection A Touch of the Creature, which contains all the stories in the limited edition published by Subterranean Press (2000) along with three more. These stories weren’t collected during Beaumont’s lifetime.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going reread some Beaumont short stories. Please turn out the light when you leave…on second thought, better not.
“The Last Days of Shandakor”
Originally published in Startling Stories, April 1952
So here’s a Mars story, a planet we’ve not looked at yet in this series of posts on Brackett. As cool as her Venus stories are (and we’re not done looking at them), Brackett’s stories of Mars are what made her reputation.
In this one, an ethnologist named John Ross is on Mars studying the various tribes and hoping to be awarded an endowed chair at a university on Earth for his work. He’s sitting in a dive, waiting for the final preparations to be made for his caravan, when a man walks in. Ross can see immediately there’s something different about this person. Everyone pretends he’s not there. When Ross asks his caravan master about the man, the caravan master tells him to forget about him. Curiosity getting the better of him, Ross approaches the man and engages him in conversation. He’ll wish he’d heeded the caravan master’s advice. Continue reading